I felt the earth, beneath my feet
by its-amagicalplace
Summary: After landing on Earth, Abby and Marcus experience snow for the first time. (Set after 1x13)


**I've not seen season two, so this could be classed as an AU. **

* * *

It must have been way past midnight; the sun had set several hours prior, and being one of the winter months, that left the sprawling expanse of night open to darkness.

Abby sat on the make-shift bed she was using, and squinted closer to the object in her hand, the candlelight giving her only a small window of vision.

She had spent the last few days trying to keep busy, to keep her mind off the fact that Clarke - and the rest of the 100 - were nowhere to be found.

She'd kept herself occupied, sorting through the contents of the dropship, to determine what they could use in their new lives, and what would have no value other than for adding fuel to the fire - literally.

The rustling of a curtain to her right made her look up, and she could see the silhouette of Kane in the doorway, illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from outside.

It must have meant that the clouds had cleared, because earlier that evening the sky had not been visible whatsoever.

"Any news?" she asked him, in a way of greeting, keeping things focused and on topic at all times, despite the subtle shift that had occurred between the two of them in recent weeks. That was something Abby was not yet ready to explore, although something in her heart told her that she was not the only person out of the pair of them who had noticed this change.

"Come outside" he replied, and Abby frowned at his words.

"It's the middle of the night, what's happened?"

"Just…" he took a step into the room, letting the curtain fall closed behind him. "You'll want to see this."

After a moment of hesitation, Abby reluctantly stood up, and took a step over the collection of materials around her feet.

A few more paces led her to the pile of clothing on the side, and she slipped her feet into the boots laying there before making her way over to him.

When she finally arrived in front of him, she could see that he was watching her with a slightly boyish grin on his face, one which Abby was unsure she had ever seen Marcus Kane wearing.

"What's going on Marcus?"

"Follow me."

She frowned into the dim light of the room, but walked after him regardless, the curiosity his cryptic words had created flowing through her veins and driving her on.

He led her towards the doorway, and held the curtain open to let her pass.

Abby glanced up at him, giving a small smile in thanks, before looking away, the expression in his eyes one that left her head feeling confused once more.

Things were shifting, definitely.

The two walked in silence, their footsteps echoing on the metal floors of the ship, before arriving at the exit.

When Abby stepped through the door, and reached the outside however, she realised exactly what Kane had wanted her to see.

The ground outside was covered in a thick blanket of white, shimmering and glittering under the moonlight from above. It was perfect, and untouched, and something she had only ever dreamed of being able to see with her own eyes.

Snow.

She let out a surprised breath, smiling unconsciously and taking a step off the ship and into the snow below.

It crunched when she landed, which surprised her; from appearances alone, she would have thought that snow would be soft.

A step forwards was followed by two more, and before she knew it, Abby was several metres from the remains of their home.

She turned back to where she had come from, and found Kane watching her with a lingering smile.

Glancing back to the floor, she saw the footprints she had left behind her, marring the perfect purity of the snow and betraying her excitement - they were uneven and messy, and she had obviously been walking forwards in a rush.

"I told you you'd want to see this."

The voice at the doorway called back her attention, and Abby once more found herself staring into the eyes of Marcus Kane.

"It's beautiful" she told him honestly, still not quite believing what she was seeing.

"Yes," he agreed quietly, the silence of the night seeming to swallow his words. "It is."

He held her gaze for a moment, before clearing his throat and looking at their surroundings. Taking his own step forwards, he joined her in the snow, and traced her own footsteps until he stood no more than two metres away.

"Touch it" he murmured, eyes reflecting the light of the moon above them.

She hesitated momentarily, before crouching down, and reaching her right hand into the snow beneath her, gasping in shock at the feel of it on her skin.

It was cold, colder than she had ever anticipated despite the stories. Abby watched in wonder as she scrunched up her hand, and the particles joined together into a lump she realised was a "snowball".

She laughed, a light, happy laugh, as the ice in her hand began to melt against the warmth of her skin, dripping across her palm and slipping through the gaps in between her fingers. The liquid joined the field of white below her once more, and she rubbed her hand against her trousers to dry it off.

The cold caused an unfamiliar burning sensation against her skin, but Abby knew she would feel it a hundred times over if she got to experience snow again for the first time.

Kane didn't have to have come to find her, to show her what new wonder the earth had brought. He could have remained silent, kept it to himself, and maybe held the silence of the night, and the purity of the untouched ground, in his memory alone.

But he hadn't, and Abby was more grateful for that fact than she wanted to let on.

"Thank you, Marcus" she told him softly instead, standing back up before him and crossing her arms around herself to keep out the cold air. "For showing me."

He paused, before smiling gently in response.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Kane watched Abby move across the ground, and he smiled to himself.

As soon as he had looked outside, and seen the wonder that had fallen, he had felt the strangest urge that he should tell Abby. She wasn't a meteorologist, she had never expressed a desire or interest in the weather, but seeing something so beautiful occur on earth, made him want her to see it too.

It was a feeling unfamiliar to him, the desire to share, to assist with others in the experience of joy.

Maybe coming to earth was a good thing. A new start, a chance to change his ways and try to become a better man.

The woman in front of him had something to do with it, he knew that much.

If anybody asked, he would be unable to place his finger on exactly the moment he realised that Abby Griffin was not just a fellow council member, not just the woman who made his professional life hell with her meddling and her constant desire to "do the right thing". But something had changed, and now when he looked at her, Marcus knew there was something else there. Something new. Something he had never felt before.

And in honesty, it scared him.

He had no right to feel like this either, especially not towards her. Her husband had been floated whilst he stood by and idly watched. Her daughter had been sent to earth as a guinea pig, and he was to blame for that decision too.

A few months before, he had even tried to get Abby floated. The idea now filled him with rage. Marcus felt sick, knowing the things he had done.

He needed to change.

A cloud drifted over the moonlight above them both, and the sudden dimming of light drew him out of his reverie.

Within moments, the first flake fell, drifting slowly from the skies above, and making its way to earth.

He watched the smile light up on Abby's face, the wonder in her eyes as she caught a few more on her fingertips, and Marcus knew his previous thoughts were confirmed.

He wanted to walk over, and join her in free abandon, taste the ice falling from above, and laugh like he never had done before.

But he didn't.

Instead, he simply stood and observed, like he so often had done back on the Ark.

Marcus felt the creeping cold begin to seep into his bones, the shiver tracing his spine, and he wrapped his jacket around himself tighter. And he waited.

For Abby to finish finding wonders in the snow. For her to bore of what he had shown her. For the cold to finally convince her to go back inside, and get the rest all of them so desperately needed.

Marcus would wait. For her, he would wait.

* * *

**I've never written for The 100 before. Please let me know your thoughts!**


End file.
